On Hold

Unfortunately, much of the nation's business is being put on hold while Congress deals with the administration's plan for bailing out the Wall Street robber barons. Fortunately, the Congress is being far less hasty in its dealing with this (gasp!)crisis (gasp again!) than it has in the past with the AUMF and Patriot Act. However, since it is possible that this really might be a crisis, although there is now beginning to be some doubt as to whether that is actually the case, Congress is spending a great deal of time dealing with this single issue. That means that in the week before its recess, other bills are hanging fire.

One such bill would mandate that private insurance companies provide comparable benefits for mental health treatment that they do for physical health treatment. The state of the law right now is that federal law allows insurers to set higher co-payments or stricter limits on mental health benefits than they do for medical or surgical coverage. This new bill would change that, based on the state of the science dealing with mental health issues.

From yesterday's Washington Post:

Congress approved legislation yesterday that would require private insurers to provide the same level of benefits for mental illness as they do for physical maladies, a change lauded by advocates as a great shift in the nation's understanding of mental health. ...

The measure has received strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate and has the backing of business, insurance companies, health advocates, the medical community and the White House. But its passage into law was not ensured last night.

The remaining obstacle appeared to be ironing out differences in how to pay the cost to the federal government -- estimated at $3.4 billion over 10 years, in the form of forgone tax revenue. Lawmakers also needed to resolve whether the final bill should be a standalone measure or part of a larger package of legislation.

The House approved the language in a standalone bill, while the Senate wrapped it into a $150 billion package of popular tax cuts, including a one-year patch for the alternative minimum tax, and extensions of expiring tax provisions including tuition credits and state and local sales tax deductions (for states that do not have an income tax), as well as research and development tax credits.

It is unclear whether a joint agreement can be reached in the few days remaining before Congress recesses.

All of the parties want the bill. The hold-up is how it is presented in final form. Getting the bill through conference will be difficult especially right now since the entire world is focussing on the great economic solution.

Ideally, the Senate would back off and allow the House standalone bill to prevail. The White House has indicated it will sign the bill, which will save those fortunate enough to have employer provided group health insurance thousands of dollars. It will also allow for those in government funded plans to receive the same kind of treatment. I know what my insurance policy says about mental health treatment for such issues as substance abuse problems. I also know what it will cover for non-substance abuse mental health problems and it isn't nearly enough to cover the real cost of treatment, which the Washington Post noted:

Typical annual limits include 30 visits to a doctor or 30 days of hospital care for treatment of a mental disorder. Under the legislation passed yesterday, those limits would no longer be allowed if the insurer had no limits on treatment for medical conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

It's time we caught up on the scientific knowledge on mental illness so that we can throw out the old wives' tales about it. This bill is a good start. When you're calling your congressional representatives about that foul Wall Street bailout, remind them that they also have other pressing business to attend to, including this bill.